With promises of pizza, soda and curated tunes, last weekend first-years made their way down to The Mug for a silent disco orchestrated by First-Year Programming. A silent disco—for those who don’t know—is an event where participants don bulky wireless headphones in order to have a quiet, yet still energetic, dance party alternative. First-year representatives were stationed at a makeshift DJ booth, eagerly manning three channels that participants could choose from by simply flicking a switch on their headphones. With something for everyone, the event was a big hit.
Calder Beasley ’26, Noyes House first-year representative and novice DJ, gushed about working with his fellow representatives: “Everyone really cares about their house and their fellow first-years. I am lucky to be a part of a passionate group of people that are very proactive planners.” Beasley explained that, originally the representatives had planned on the disco being an entirely decades-themed function. But ultimately the group decided to have a mix of throwbacks, Latin music and modern pop, so as to please everyone. Main House First-Year Representative Claire Gallion ’26 collaborated with Beasley in curating an ’80s-themed playlist. “For some ’80s inspiration, I texted my mom and asked for the most fun, happening songs of her youth,” Beasley noted.
The creation of other playlists, such as the pop channel, was more collaborative among all representatives. Beasely was inspired by iconic women of pop from the years 2008 to 2014, which he personally thinks is the golden age of music, with songs that consist of bold, bombastic electronic influences paired with smooth, powerful vocals. Although this was his first time DJ-ing, Beasley said that he had a fabulous time and felt connected to the crowd: “I didn’t have headphones so I could only hear people singing. Playing off the energy was key.”
Iris Li ’26 emphasized how cheerful the atmosphere was: “I felt very comfortable. I was worried the disco would be a bit awkward, but I ended up having a fantastic time.” Beyond the environment of the disco, Li enjoyed how convenient it was to switch between channels. “I loved how I could be listening to ABBA and then switch the channel to 2000s throwbacks and hear songs like ‘S&M’ by Rihanna in an instant,” she recounted. Li also explained that people were more focused on the music than the social aspect. She added that people bonded through the music, and groups connected through the shared experience of listening to the same channel. The headphones had lights that flashed either blue, green or red, depending on the channel being listened to, which made it easy to identify others who were listening to the same music. Overall, Li deemed the night a massive success. But still, there were some slight drawbacks of the experience. “It was rather sweaty. But that’s how The Mug always is. It was happy sweat. ‘Worth it’ sweat,” Li said with a laugh.
In fact, some aspects of the disco that could be potential drawbacks actually turned out to make the experience all the more memorable. Grace Montas ’26 enjoyed the “waiting room” space almost as much as the disco itself. There were only 50 headphone sets available for the night, so some students had to wait until other groups left in order to enter the event. “Despite having to wait outside The Mug for a few minutes before actually being able to go to the disco, people really made the waiting experience fun. We all enjoyed pizza while socializing. Some people even started playing music,” Montas recalled. Once inside the disco, Montas enjoyed the high-energy songs that were being played consistently throughout the night: “‘Want You Back’ by Cher Lloyd was a personal highlight for me. You could tell that everyone was screaming the lyrics and laughing even if you couldn’t hear it.”
There were even some comedic elements of the disco that heightened everyone’s enjoyment of the event. “I liked taking off my headphones and hearing everyone singing and dancing. It was quite silly how when my headphones were on it felt like I was at a lively party, but once they were off it was all squeaky and quiet,” Emma Goss ’26 [Disclaimer: Goss is Assistant Copy Editor for The Miscellany News] explained. She also agreed that the communal aspect of listening to the same channel as others was exciting. Goss added that she and her friends coordinated jumping from station to station together, so they knew they were all in sync, listening to the same jams. “My only critique is that it could have been more crowded, but I also understand that they had limited headphones. Maybe we need to invest in more headphones,” Goss pointed out. In addition to dancing to throwback tunes, Goss said that a memorable moment was forming a conga line that every participant joined in on. “If there’s anything to take away from this article… we need another disco!”